Stellar Bank is committed to helping customers reach their financial goals. But more than that, we're committed to making a positive impact on our customers, employees, and the communities we serve. We believe that by fostering a supportive and engaging work environment for our team members, we can better serve our customers and contribute meaningfully to the communities we operate in.
For Joanna Lacey, creating a workplace where people truly thrive isn't just part of her role—it's her driving force. We sat down with Joanna to learn more about her leadership philosophy, her approach to building an inclusive culture, and the moments that have shaped her perspective on what makes teams flourish at Stellar Bank.
Tell us about your role at Stellar Bank.
My full title is Managing Director of Culture and Experience. Within my purview, I'm responsible for learning, development and organizational effectiveness, which includes change management, community engagement, the customer experience, and our officer development and internship program.
Joanna Lacey as a featured speaker at the Houston Business Journal's Diversity in Business Awards luncheon.
What made you want to work for a community bank/in the banking industry?
I actually fell into banking by accident. I don't have a degree in finance—I've never taken a finance class or accounting in my life. I really moved into banking because of the work I do in talent and organizational development, with a specific focus on learning.
I'm passionate about helping people learn how to unleash their potential, because I believe if we can unleash our potential and become more successful, it benefits the workplace, our home life, our communities and ultimately, the world.
As the Managing Director, Culture and Experience, what excites you most about supporting employees' experiences at Stellar Bank?
I love my team. I love the light bulb moments—when someone learns something new and they go, 'Oh, if I did this, this would help me in XYZ manner.' I love seeing that light bulb moment come on with people — they can start to feel more successful and accomplished in what they're doing. It's a wonderful feeling to see someone's confidence grow and how they lean into becoming either a more successful individual contributor or a successful leader. It's a really powerful experience.
Looking more broadly at the employee experience and culture—it's an old quote, but 'culture eats strategy for breakfast.' Some organizations feel like the culture is what's up on the posters, but the culture is really what your employees say it is. In the work that we do, we listen to our employees to help create and understand what the culture really is here. We can guide it by defining what our purpose and values are and then educating what that looks like. But it doesn't mean anything if people aren't living into the values, if we're not recognizing people who are doing a great job living into the values, and accordingly, if somebody isn't a great culture fit and they're not living into our values, we need to be able to address that as well.
It's exciting to me to see people choose how they want to show up at work and how their personal values and belief system align with the bank's values and purpose. When that alignment happens, you can create a really great culture, and a really great culture can lead to really great performance. I love being able to understand what our employees love and what they would like to see change, because they're the folks closest to the work. It's great to be able to hear their feedback and then take action on it.
How does leadership development impact the overall employee experience?
Over the course of my career, I've done a lot of work in management and leadership development, because as managers and leaders, we have a larger span of control and can make a difference in somebody's life. We want to develop our leaders and managers so that people are inspired to come to work—so they don't have a case of the Sunday night blues, they're excited to come to work, and they feel ready to give more to the organization because they love coming to work. I think development and helping people unleash their potential and play to their strengths creates that kind of optimally motivating environment.
How does investing in Stellar’s culture and employee experience ultimately benefit the customers and communities Stellar serves?
Successful organizations, in my opinion—and research has demonstrated this as well—are the 'Inside Out' companies. They're the ones that take care of their employees first, because when employees believe and enact the purpose and values, and managers lead with excellence, that translates to higher levels of employee engagement, which translates into higher performance, such as better customer service. When we have better customer service, we're making a positive difference in our customers' lives and in our community. It's that inside-out approach—it starts from the inside and works its way out.
I think we've probably all experienced this in our day-to-day lives as customers, going to some place of business and dealing with an employee who's just rude and disinterested. It's not a great advertisement for that particular company. The opposite is when you have employees who are excited to come to work and want to go above and beyond—that shows up for our customers, and we create an environment that customers want to keep coming back to as well.
We also see this in our volunteer efforts. We have so much volunteerism that happens within the bank and so many different opportunities to volunteer. Our community engagement team does wonderful work. People love being involved in our communities, and we can see the tangible difference it's making. And to me, a lot of that stems back to employee engagement—employees having that sense of motivation and commitment.
What does it mean to create a workplace culture where people come to thrive?
What that looks like in action is a workplace where people are committed and motivated to do their daily jobs, but they also have opportunity—and they can see those opportunities and possibilities for how they can further their career, whether that's in one particular area or line of business, or whether it's moving into different lines of business.
One of the things that's important to us at Stellar Bank is internal mobility, which is the ability of our employees to move into different departments and grow their careers within Stellar Bank. It benefits the bank because we've got great employees who want to stay longer because they're still challenged by the work they do. But it also benefits our employees because they're growing their career and their wealth, since they can keep moving up within the organization and don't have to leave to further their career.
It's that opportunity where people can keep growing and thriving, because they have the option to grow their careers and do different things at Stellar Bank.
What's one cultural element at Stellar Bank that you're most proud of, and why?
One of the pieces I'm really proud of is over the past two years how we have grown into the value of succeeding together. We've collaborated more. We always look for what the possibilities could be. There's always a positive intent assumed. I share with people—new employees—that this organization and the people in this organization genuinely want to see people succeed, and we genuinely want the best for our employees, our customers and all of our other stakeholders. It's that value of succeeding together and really working together and collaborating that I think I'm most proud of. I think one of the pivotal pieces in having that happen after a merger of equals was our Stellar Odyssey program*, which we continue to offer for our new employees.
*The Stellar Odyssey Program is a 2024 ATD Houston Pinnacle Award Winner for Outstanding Organizational Impact.
Stellar bankers engaging in an exercise from the Odyssey Program
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of Stellar’s workplace culture and the experiences it can provide employees?
The opportunity to grow. I'm really excited to see us growing and continuing to grow. When we grow, we can do more. That means more programs to help develop our employees, but also to more effectively support our customers, from a learning perspective too. So, I'm really excited for the opportunity to grow and the ability to keep enhancing our Stellar experiences and just keep getting even better. It's the continuous improvement and continuous growth that I'm really most excited for.
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Looking to join an organization where people come to thrive? Explore careers at Stellar Bank.
